In My Antonia, the prairie, with its dog villages, streams and grassy cliffs, is as important a force as Jim Burden or Antonia Shimerda, in that it becomes their home and playground in childhood and shapes their consciousness as adults. The representation of this landscape, and in particular of the roads that Jim and Antonia take to travel through it, reflects the state of mind and the maturation of the two friends and the group of pioneers. Cather uses descriptions of the characteristics of these paths and how they change to represent the path that Jim's life follows and to capture the idyllic nature of childhood, the vigor and independence of the pioneer experience, and how the conventional alternative seems boring in comparison. no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayIn general, the characteristics of country roads correspond to the general condition of the land and the pioneers' relationship to it. Although the presence of roads on the prairie suggests habitation and civilization, in early times the layout of the road haphazardly imitates the shape and features of the countryside, making it "[run] like a wild thing", as if she had a will of her own (Cather 18). The initially wild meadows and winding roads seem to echo the fact that Jim and especially Antonia have not yet been constrained by hardship and responsibilities. Back when Antonia had to work and Jim had to go to school, their activities are as fanciful as the wanderings of the roads themselves. The awkward and unnecessary curves of the trails seem to suggest that the pioneers, although established on the territory, did not have a firm hold on it. their routes, their actions and their lives more than their attempts to establish roads or farms define the terrain. This situation changes as Jim returns to the prairie in his late teens and observes that in addition to fields full of successful crops, new roads are "limited to cutting lines" (Cather 71). Jim is visibly delighted that his neighbors' work has paid off. Although Jim likens his observation of these changes to "watching the growth of a great man or a great idea," it becomes evident in later passages that he also seems to harbor a certain sentimental regard for the old roads of the uncultivated prairie that were a playground of his youth (Cather 184). Although Jim both comes to view the prairie as a crucial part of his identity and his childhood friendship with Antonia, both characters are initially strangers to it and to each other. Although he and Antonia are traveling to Nebraska on the same train, Jim has not yet become acquainted with the Shimerdas, making it impossible to guess Antonia's thoughts during the trip from Jim's narration. Oddly enough, Jim's own emotions do not predict the joys he will experience on the prairie. Instead, his sense of disorientation when riding in a wagon to Blackhawk is evident when he notes that "if there [is] a road, [he cannot] make it out" (Cather 11). The fact that Jim cannot see the road ahead of him, or even be sure that a road is guiding him, suggests a sense of loss and reflects the uncertain nature of his future. Figuratively speaking, the roads Jim takes seem to parallel his life path. At this point, he is indeed between two lives: his first with his late parents in Virginia (a time to which he can never return) and the new one with his grandparents in Nebraska (about whom he knows nothing about). instant). THEAntonia's movement between Bohemia and America is probably even more acute, although it is unclear whether or not she feels it at the moment. The wild land and the apparent lack of a path to direct travelers through it makes Jim think that this place is so wild and uninhabited that it is "beyond the jurisdiction of man" and is "the material to start of which countries are made” (Cather 11). . That he feels “erased” suggests that he is reborn during this journey as the path he travels takes him further and further away from what is familiar to him (Cather 11). This slightly ominous description of the journey to one's new home seems to allude to the potential of the lands surrounding the route to form countries, set rules, and create new lives. Once Jim settles down on the prairie, he and Antonia enjoy the freedom. that it offers, but also learn the price of this freedom. Jim's connection between the concept of independence and prairie roads is implicit in his physical descriptions of the trails. For example, the sunflowers that line prairie trails in summer recall Fuch's story that Mormons scattered sunflower seeds while passing through Nebraska to escape religious persecution. Even though he knows this tale is fictional, Jim prefers it to a more botanical explanation. He reveals his romantic inclination by stating that “the roads lined with sunflowers always seem to [him] the roads of freedom” (Cather 23). The period during which Jim and Antonia travel these trails is indeed relatively untroubled by worries and limitations, as they use the sunflower trails to embark on their snake-slaying, neighbor-visiting, and tree-rescuing adventures. insects. However, when the sunflower roads are "stripped" and the flowers fade to "brown, noisy, burrowing stems" at the end of the season, it portends a difficult winter to come (Cather 32). The cold, desperate months that follow instead remind us that the self-sufficiency of prairie life can also lead to the hardships and isolation that ultimately result in the Shimerdas' near-starvation and Mr. Shimerda's suicide. The roads of the prairie lead Jim and Antonia to moments that are sometimes joyful, sometimes brutal, but always rich in emotion and excitement. On the other hand, when Jim abandons exploring the prairie roads to lead a quiet life in the town of Blackhawk, he often feels trapped. His need for a sign of freedom is so great that he designates a nearby river as "compensation for the lost freedom of the agricultural country" (Cather 90). Although the river periodically offers entertaining hunting and fishing, Jim mostly finds himself wandering restlessly through the “long cold streets” of Blackhawk (Cather 132). These streets are not lined with sunflowers, but rather with houses which only evoke in him a feeling of disgust in the face of "jealousy, envy and unhappiness" and the "monitored mode of existence" of the people who live in the city (Cather 132). . These petty people are very different from the serious and open people Jim grew up with. Jim can understand the reason and effort to limit country roads to more direct routes, but he still loves the more winding roads for the memories they evoke. Likewise, Jim must abandon the romantic places and characters of his childhood for a more practical journey into adulthood. Although Jim's life path takes him to towns and villages where he can attend school and establish himself as a successful lawyer, above all he never ceases to love the paths he has traveled with Antonia. A particular point of reference on these, 2003.